If Ryan got the Part
by raspberry dreams
Summary: This is a crazy idea I had while writting "Planning for the Future" of what might have happened if Sharpay responded differently to Ms Darbus' ultimatum in chapter 21. It wont make much sense if you haven't read that first.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

_Rehearsals were long and difficult without Gabriella there to sort out the petty arguments and soothe disgruntled feelings. Working with Sharpay was very different to playing opposite Gabriella but Troy persevered knowing that he'd probably never have the opportunity to play lead roles with Gabriella again. It didn't help much that he didn't like or trust Sharpay as a person and acting the part of being her boyfriend was especially difficult and awkward. He enjoyed spending the breaks with Kelsi and Ryan who he'd become much closer friends with since marrying Gabriella. Kelsi had done a wonderful job transposing Gabriella's songs into the right key for Sharpay (though in Troy's opinion they sounded much better before when Gabriella was singing) but the blonde diva was insisting that she jazz up the tempo and turn them into dance numbers. Kelsi stood up for herself and refused backed up by both Troy and Ryan. Unfortunately Sharpay wasn't used to not getting her own way and had taken the matter up with Ms Darbus._

_Ms Darbus listened to both sides of the argument and had to agree with Kelsi and the boys. A lot of the emotion in the songs would be lost if they were speeded up the way Sharpay wanted._

_Sharpay continued to argue for the changes before storming off the stage._

_Troy had to stop himself from bursting out laughing when Ryan suggested that if Sharpay wasn't enough of a professional to play the part and sing the songs as they had been written he would be glad to take her place and that it would be very easy for him to sing most of the songs in the key Kelsi had already transposed them to for Sharpay and he already knew all of the choreography so the substitution wouldn't cause a lot of extra work for any of them._

_Troy expressed his willingness to play opposite Ryan stating that they worked well together in rehearsal when he'd been teaching Troy the dances._

_Sharpay was left spluttering but Ms Darbus said that it was a possibility but she didn't think East High was quite ready for casting like that and she would give Sharpay one last chance to learn the role before she replaced her, selecting one of the juniors to understudy the role. _

"_Troy will be away for the next three days so you have until Monday to make a decision Miss Evans. In the meantime I want you both here working on the songs and choreography with Miss Neilson and Mr Evans. I suggest you both make a concerted effort to learn them they way they are supposed to be performed. It is the scriptwriter, songwriter and the choreographers place to make changes to a stage production Miss Evans. Something you will need to accept if you hope to make the stage your profession. I'm afraid I've been too lax about that in the past and have done you no favours. For that I apologise."_

_Ms Darbus then turned to the junior standing in the wings, "Miss Gold you have five days to learn the part otherwise if Miss Evans does not feel she can take direction like a real actress I will have no choice but to give it to Mr Evans and risk the principle's disapproval" she said handing over a copy of the script and a CD of the songs. _

"_Personally I think I'd rather work with Ryan than either of those spoilt princesses" Troy whispered to Kelsi and Ryan causing them both to grin. _

"_And what about the kiss Wildcat?" Kelsi said teasingly._

"_It's hard to kiss anyone who's not Gabriella I don't imagine kissing Ryan would be any worse" Troy replied. "I bet MsD would make you write it out anyway if she gave Ryan the part."_

"_She might not" Ryan warned._

"_She would if you asked her too" Troy replied. "She has to be aware it could cause trouble"_

-o0o-

"And what if she doesn't? I'm not sure I could kiss you realistically Troy, no offence"

Troy grinned to show no offence was taken then grimaced as he thought about the problem. "We'd have to practice" he said sighing.

"Gabriella's going to love that" Ryan replied sarcastically.

"I'm more worried about Dad and the rest of the school" Troy said. "Gabriella knows the kiss is in the script no matter who plays the part. She's not thrilled about me kissing Sharpay either."

"Are you going to tell her?" Ryan asked.

Troy shrugged "I'll probably tell her about what happened, I won't tell her that it's a real possibility until Darbus makes a decision on Monday because I really don't think it's gonna happen. But I can't really see her being any more upset about me kissing you than she already was about me having to kiss Sharpay" he said as he climbed into his truck. "Do either of you want a lift?" he asked.

"No thanks Troy. Mom's waiting I'll see you tomorrow" Kelsi said kissing his cheek. "Say Hi to Gabriella for me."

"I'll tell her that you're looking after me" Troy promised.

"You know she didn't ask me to" Kelsi protested.

"Yeah but she'll be glad to hear someone's protecting me from the drama monster of East High" Troy joked looking apologetically at Ryan.

"Don't apologise to me Troy. I agree she's behaving like a monster" Ryan said sighing. "Just be grateful that you don't have to live with her. I'm going to be hearing about this all weekend."

"If it gets too much you can escape to my house and hang out" Kelsi offered.

"I might wear out my welcome"

"Don't be silly. You're a friend. I can't promise not to drag you into practicing the songs but you're always welcome."

"You're welcome to come crash with me next week when I get back too" Troy offered.

"Troy if I get the part the last thing we need is for people to hear that I'm spending time alone with you at home while Gabriella's away" Ryan said dryly. "Thanks for the offer though."

Troy laughed "Yeah I suppose you're right" he agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I thought you were leaving tomorrow?" Kelsi said surprised.

"Yeah right after school. I'm going to try and drive as far as I can tomorrow night then crash in my truck and go the rest of the way in the morning."

"Well take care the last thing I want to do is end up playing a romantic role with my sister" Ryan said pulling a face. "That would be worse than kissing you."

Troy laughed "Don't worry I'll stop and rest when I need to" he reassured them as they walked out together.

The subject came up Friday night as he was walking around the campus with Gabriella.

"_How are rehearsals for the musical going?" she asked a little surprised that he hadn't already told her all about them._

_Troy groaned "Horrible, I wish you were there to do the musical. Sharing the lead with Sharpay is a nightmare. She's even worse that she was last year." Troy complained "She keeps trying to change the songs and the dance moves and all her lines and she argues constantly with Kelsi and Ryan she wants them to increase her part and make sure she's centre stage for the whole time"_

"_How are Ryan and Kelsi coping with that? Surely you're not letting her get away with treating your 'little sister' like that." It wasn't a question Gabriella knew that Troy would do anything to protect Kelsi from Sharpay's bitchiness._

"_Kelsi's doing okay. She stands up for herself against Sharpay now" Troy said, clearly proud of his friend. _

_Gabriella smiled and raised her eyebrow questioningly, waiting for him to continue._

"_And I refused to sing the songs with Sharpay at all unless she sang them the way Kelsi had written them. Her new song for the ending is amazing. Luckily Ryan agrees with me and Kelsi, the songs are perfect the way they are making them faster would ruin them. So he's choreographed dance moves that don't work the way Sharpay wants to sing the songs and refuses to listen when she wants to make changes." Troy smiled as he talked about his honorary sister, the one person that had wholeheartedly supported their relationship and their marriage right from the start. _

"_Oh my God! What happened?" Gabriella winced at the thought of the tantrum Sharpay must have thrown at that._

"_Sharpay tried to tell Darbus that I was being obstructive and get her to make Ryan swap parts with me" Troy said._

"_What did Darbus say to that?" Gabriella asked surprised at the amusement she heard in Troy's voice. She would have thought he'd be annoyed at Sharpay's continued attempts to manipulate him._

_Troy smirked "Darbus didn't get the chance to say anything. Ryan was there and he completely refused to play a romantic role paired with his sister. He even suggested to her that his voice would actually be a better match for Sharpay's part than mine and that there wasn't enough time for Kelsi to transpose all the songs again so if he was going to replace one of us he should replace Sharpay instead of me" Troy laughed at the memory. "Of course Darbus refused to even consider it and the whole subject was dropped."_

_Gabriella giggled and looked at Troy curiously "Would you have agreed to play a romantic role opposite Ryan if Darbus had agreed? What about the kissing scene?" She asked blushing slightly. While she didn't want to watch her husband kissing anyone else she found the idea of two guys kissing hot and Troy's extreme confidence on stage was always a real turn on for her._

_Thankfully Troy either didn't notice her blush or didn't feel it worth mentioning. He shrugged "I don't see why not, so long as you were okay with it. It's not like I'm at all attracted to either of them so there wouldn't be much difference kissing Ryan instead of Sharpay. It might even be easier because I know Ryan isn't ever going to use the fact that the two of us have to kiss on stage to try to break us up or cause trouble. Chances are though Darbus would have had the kiss written out of the script if she gave the role to Ryan anyway. East High is not ready for something like that" he said smirking slightly. "But it's amazing how much easier Ryan is to dance with when he stands in for Sharpay at practice, he's not always trying to angle his body so he's in the spotlight or changing the steps without warning me to make himself look good. I can just relax with him and go through the routine. I really wish you could have played the lead. It's really hard trying to play the role against Sharpay but I guess it's good practice, you're not going to be able to be in any of my theatre projects next year." Troy said trying to be positive so Gabriella wouldn't feel guilty that she'd chosen to do the Freshman Honours Program instead of play the lead in the musical._

_Gabriella laughed at the idea of her extremely straight husband playing a gay role in front of the entire high school. "I bet your Dad would've been unhappy if Darbus had let Ryan have the role" _

_Troy laughed too "Unhappy! He would have gone ballistic. He probably would have thought Darbus had done it on purpose just to embarrass him."_

"_Well.." Gabriella said thoughtfully, "I'm not saying that would be the only reason Darbus would agree to cast Ryan instead of Sharpay, but I bet she'd get a kick out of Jack's reaction." She started to laugh._

_Troy continued to laugh too "Yeah, I would have liked to see the fight the two of them had over that."_

"_Only if you weren't in the middle of it" Gabriella replied._

"_I would hate to do that to Ryan too. Everyone knows I'm married and completely crazy about you but he would have copped a lot of teasing and rumours that he was gay. There are quite a few openly homophobic guys at East High. School's been hard enough for him without starting all that up again."_

"_Do you think he is gay?" Gabriella asked curiously._

_Troy shrugged "He's always denied it. I know he was picked on a lot before we all became friends for dressing like he does, but I think that's mostly just his upbringing and personality."_

"_But what do you really think?" Gabriella said ignoring the way Troy had clearly tried to avoid answering the question._

_Troy looked at his wife. "I think he's my friend. If he is gay and he ever decides to come out and tell us he is gay I'll support him but until he does that I'm going to believe him when he tells me he's straight" he said firmly refusing to engage in speculation. "I think a lot of his feminine traits are just because he's spent his whole life in Sharpay's shadow."_

The subject of Ryan and the Musicale were dropped in favour of more personal conversation as they made their way back to Gabriella's dorm, and were not brought up again over the weekend.

Troy wondered a couple of times whether Sharpay would calm down and play the part as it was intended or whether it would be given to the new girl Tiara Gold. Not that it mattered much to him, he'd never spoken with Tiara, she was always hanging around with Sharpay and he was sure she wouldn't be any easier to play opposite.

-o0o-

MsD was running late for Monday afternoon's rehearsal and Ryan decided to start running Troy and Sharpay through the new choreography for the final dance.

"It doesn't work that way Ryan it needs more pep" Sharpay complained. "We should do this. You'd need to play the song just a little faster and..."

"I see you're still not ready to take direction" MrD cut in entering from the backstage area. "Miss Gold are you ready to take the part? Miss Gold?"

"Umm she broke her ankle on Friday" Martha replied.

Kelsi sighed in disappointment, Tiara would have been so much easier to work with than Sharpay (if only because she didn't have the history to expect to get away with behaviour like this) and that's probably why Sharpay hadn't even attempted to tone down her criticism and demands. She knew Tiara wasn't available to take the part from her.

MrD looked at Kelsi and Troy's clearly unhappy faces and made a quick decision. "Ryan are you prepared to take the part?"

Ryan swallowed nervously "Yes Ma'am" he said.

"Troy are you prepared to play the role opposite Ryan?" Ms Darbus asked seriously.

Troy shrugged "To be honest he's easier to work with than Sharpay" he replied.

"Okay people everyone else helping with the sets and costumes. Troy and Ryan with me" Ms Darbus ordered walking towards the offices.

Sharpay screamed and stamped her foot "Ms Darbus you'll ruin the show. No one will come to see a homosexual show" she screeched.

Ms Darbus ignored her.

Entering her office she waved Ryan and Troy to a seat. "Have the two of you really thought about what playing these roles up against each other will mean for you?" she asked seriously.

"I'm more worried about what it will mean for Ryan to be honest" Troy said. "Everyone knows I'm married and I've talked it over with Gabriella and she'll be okay with it."

"I've had some trouble with people thinking I'm gay in the past. There are already a lot of people who believe I am" Ryan said sadly. "I'm not likely to get a girlfriend here at East High and I'll hopefully be on the other side of the country in a couple of months. Successfully playing this role may make the difference between getting into Juilliard or NYU. I want to do it."

"I suppose you want me to have the kiss written out?"

"Of course" Troy replied immediately. "I wanted it written out as soon as Gabriella wasn't going to be playing the part."

Ms Darbus looked towards Ryan. "I would prefer you to write it out" he admitted softly.

"And if I don't remove the kiss from the script are you still prepared to play the roles?" she asked searchingly. "If you have any doubts about your ability to go through with it I need to hear them now."

Ryan nodded looking at Troy.

Troy sighed "Yes I can't imagine kissing Ryan will be much worse than kissing Sharpay would have been."

"You spoke to Gabriella about it?" Ryan asked.

"Only as a hypothetical possibility but she found the idea amusing. Especially the thought of Dad's reaction" Troy said watching MsD for a reaction.

Ms Darbus definitely smirked for a second "Yes I imagine his reaction will be rather explosive" she agreed.

"Is that the reason you were prepared to give Ryan the part?" Troy asked suspiciously. "Because I won't be used as a weapon to hurt my father" he said seriously.

Ms Darbus sighed. "No Troy. I would have preferred Ms Evans to have chosen to act professionally and retain the part, or failing that for Ms Gold or Mrs Bolton to play the role but it didn't work out that way. Either Ryan plays the role or we postpone the production entirely until after graduation and I cannot guarantee all the other actors will be available if I do that" Ms Darbus explained gently. "I will admit I will somewhat enjoy watching your father's reaction but that didn't enter into my reasons for making this decision."

"Good because you won't see his reaction. If I do this I will be telling Mom and Dad tonight" Troy stated.

"Before I make my final decision I want the two of you to run through the kissing scene" Ms Darbus said.

The boys both looked at her in shock. "You didn't make Troy practice that with Sharpay" Ryan exclaimed.

"We both have ample evidence that Troy has plenty of experience kissing girls" Ms Darbus replied dryly. "And I have no reason to believe that Miss Evans would find kissing Mr Bolton distasteful."

Troy blushed remembering the many threats of detention he and Gabriella had received for excessive PDA. "Not really, I've only ever kissed Gabriella" he said surprising Ms Darbus who had thought that he'd been quite a player before meeting Ms Montez.

"I'm sorry to force the issue boys but I really need to know today if I need to postpone the performance" Ms Darbus said apologetically.

"You know I once ate a pair of gym socks rather than kiss someone" Troy said laughing.

Ryan and Ms Darbus both laughed "You don't have to do this" Ryan said to him. "I don't want to cause problems with you and Gabriella."

"You know better than that Ry. If Gabriella had any problem with this I would have said no straight up. She knows that I'll eventually have to stage kiss someone else" Troy said seriously.

"Okay boys enough procrastinating, either you can kiss on demand or you can't. I need to know"

Ryan looked up panicked. Troy knowing that it was his character that would initiate the kiss reached up and cupped Ryan's face closed his eyes and forced himself to lean in to kiss him briefly. "Is that enough?" he asked turning to look at Ms Darbus.

"Yes Troy that's perfect" his teacher said smiling. "Do you both think you can do that again on stage in front of your friends?"

Troy shrugged nonchalantly "A kiss like that, sure I just closed my eyes and thought of Gabriella" he said.

Ryan put his hand to his heart and pretended to fall backwards "I'm wounded" he cried. "You cad! You scoundrel!"

Troy laughed at his silliness. Ms Darbus cleared her throat.

"Umm yes MsD I think I can" Ryan said seriously.

The rehearsal ran late as Ryan outlined the minor changes to the choreography which had to be made to adapt the show for two male leads. Troy arrived home late that night and went straight up to talk to Gabriella.

"Hey Troy. You're a little early tonight" Gabriella greeted him questioningly. They'd agreed that Troy wouldn't ring before 10.30 and that Gabriella would take at least a half hour break to talk to him when he called.

"I'm sorry for disturbing your study routine but something came up and I wanted to run it by you before I talk to Mom and Dad" Troy replied.

"What is it? Is everything okay?" Gabriella asked anxiously.

"Don't worry it's not that bad except that Dad's about to go ballistic and I'd rather be able to say I'd talked it over with you first and you were okay with it" Troy tried to reassure her.

"Go Ballistic..." Gabriella said thoughtfully. "MsD gave Ryan the part?" she guessed shocked when she realized what Troy was talking about.

Troy was surprised once again by his wife's perceptiveness. "Yeah! And she wants to leave the kissing scene in too" he said dryly.

Gabriella giggled at the thought "Do you think you'll be able to kiss him?" she asked.

Troy smiled wryly "I already did Gabriella. Darbus wanted us to prove we could do it before she mae a final decision" he said watching the screen carefully to see Gabriella's reaction.

Gabriella looked down. "How did it go?" she asked.

Troy ignored her question. "Gabriella. Are we okay? If you really don't want me to I'll tell Darbus I've had second thoughts" he offered.

"Of course we're okay Troy. I was okay with you stage kissing Sharpay. Ryan's our friend and I trust him a lot more than I trusted her" Gabriella answered smiling.

"I love you Gabriella" Troy said.

"How did the kiss go?" Gabriella asked curiously.

"It wasn't too bad I cupped his face so I knew where to aim then closed my eyes and pretended I was kissing you" Troy explained.

Gabriella grinned. "I love you Troy" she said affectionately.

"Thanks Gabriella I love you" he said then sighed "Now I've got to go and tell Dad."

"He'll hear about it tomorrow anyway" Gabriella said.

"Yeah that's why I have to tell him tonight. I told MsD that I wouldn't let her use this as a weapon in their ongoing fight" Troy said. "I want him to be able to have time to think about how he's going to react to this at school."

"I'm proud of you Troy" Gabriella said blowing him a kiss. "Good luck. I'm sure Jack will be okay with it once he calms down"

"Yeah it's what he says before he calms down that's the problem" Troy grumbled.

Gabriella laughed "Well that's why you're telling him tonight so he doesn't go off at school"

"I better go and get this over with" Troy said sighing again.

"Okay Troy call me later and let me know how it went" Gabriella said smiling.

A/N: This was something I've been playing around with when I was struggling with 'Planning for the Future'. I was attempting to write a humorous oneshot but it will be 5 chapters as I seem to be incapable of not wanting to go into characters thoughts and motives and stuff. It's not quite finished but I've written most of each chapter so it shouldn't take to long.

I hope you enjoy it.

A/N2: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5, Wildcats2016, speedsONEandONLY, fishing, Mrs Wesley-Salvatore, old voldys gone moldy, mimiash2012 and the 2 guests who reviewed the last chapter of 'planning' and inlovewithHP, RYsaJaY, cloudshadow, southernyankee, mimiash2012 and kwright2012 who have followed or favourited me since it was posted.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Troy walked slowly downstairs and found his father in the lounge watching a repeat of a college basketball game. The Berkeley Bears versus U of A Redhawks.

"Hey Dad have you got a minute there's something I need to tell you" Troy said awkwardly.

Jack turned to his son and seeing the tension in his face and shoulders turned off the TV. "Is something wrong? Is Gabriella okay?" he asked giving his son his full attention.

"Yeah Gabriella's fine. Busy studying for tomorrow's classes" Troy said smiling.

"Then what is it Troy? Has something happened?"

"Yeah! Something came up at rehearsal today. I'm not in any trouble but I don't think you're going to like this" Troy began nervously.

"Just spit it out Troy" Jack said grinning at his son's unease. It was rare Troy wasn't confident in his own decisions.

"Sharpay threw another tantrum at rehearsal today and MsD had warned her last week that she'd kick her out of the show if she couldn't behave more professionally. But Sharpay's understudy broke her ankle over the weekend and can't take the part. She gave the role to Ryan. He's the only one who knows it well enough to take it over on such short notice" Troy said bluntly.

"This is the part Gabriella was going to play before she found out about the honours program?" Jack asked.

"Yes"

"I thought there was a romantic relationship between your role and Gabriella's?" Jack asked still keeping calm but with visible effort.

"Yes"

"And Darbus gave the part to Ryan?" Jack clarified.

"So is Ryan going to dress up as a girl or will the relationship be rewritten to friendship?" the basketball coach asked uncertainly.

"No"

"What?"

"Ryan is a guy he wouldn't make a believable girl and it's too late to make big changes to the script. The relationship between the characters is a fairly small part of the role but MsD is not going to change it" Troy explained calmly.

"So you will kiss Ryan Evans in front of the entire school?" Jack yelled disbelievingly.

"Yes I will. Honestly it won't be any worse than having to kiss Sharpay" Troy declared.

"And what will Gabriella say about this?" Jack asked.

"I told her on the weekend that it was possible even though it wasn't likely. Ms D threatened Sharpay with losing the role before I left if she didn't start accepting direction properly. Ryan's the only other person who knows the lines and the choreography. If he doesn't take the part we'd have to cancel the show" Troy tried to explain.

"Or give the role back to Sharpay" Jack suggested.

Troy shook his head. "MsD won't do that. She said that she's finally realized that letting Sharpay rearrange the songs and change the choreography to suit herself was hurting Sharpay's chances of becoming a successful actress. She's feeling guilty for not forcing Sharpay to work professionally with others instead of steamrollering all over everyone before now" Troy replied.

"So Gabriella's really okay with you kissing Ryan?" Jack asked sceptically.

"Well she'd rather I didn't have to kiss anyone but she said that it really doesn't matter who plays the opposing role seeing that she can't" Troy replied

"She's okay with the whole school seeing you pretending to be gay?" Jack asked horrified.

"Is that the problem here Dad? You and Gabriella know better than anyone that I'm 100% straight" Troy asked annoyed at the unexpected signs of homophobia.

"Aren't you worried how the rest of the students are going to react?" Jack asked concerned.

"Not really. If anything I'm worried about how the school's going to treat Ryan for this" Troy said quietly brushing aside the issue of how he was treated knowing his close friends would support him.

"Ryan? You're worried about him not yourself?"

"Well he's a good friend of Gabriella's and we are friends. He's already had to deal with some bullying and bigotry over the way he dresses. This will probably make it worse. Ryan's aware of that but he needs the show to go ahead, there'll be scouts there for acting and dance schools and he's put a huge amount of work into the choreography. It could be his chance to get into the school of his dreams."

"So if you refused to kiss Ryan on stage then you could be harming his chances of getting a scholarship?" Jack asked pinching the bridge of his nose in attempt to control his frustration.

"Ryan and Kelsi both" Troy corrected. And not just their chances of a scholarship a lot of these programs will base their enrolments on the recommendation of the scouts so if the show gets cancelled they won't even be considered for a place" Troy explained knowing his father wouldn't force Troy to do something to harm a friends' college aspirations like that.

Jack sighed but couldn't object any further. "Well I really don't like it and I'm going to have words with Darbus for putting you in this position but it's your decision to make. If you believe it's the right thing to do and you think you can live with the reaction of the rest of the school and Gabriella's truly not upset by it you should go ahead" he said before walking out of the room. A moment later Troy could hear the noise of a basketball being bounced out back on the half court.

Troy looked at his mother who hadn't said anything. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" he asked.

"If what you said about the importance of the performance for Kelsi and Ryan is true, then this is the only thing to do" Lucille said slowly. "What I'm confused about is why your teacher would make such a decision."

"She said it wasn't just to cause trouble for Dad. I asked her" Troy replied.

"And you don't have a problem with the fact you felt you needed to ask?" Lucille asked skeptically.

Troy ran his hand through his hair agitatedly. "Yeah" he admitted. "But does it matter?"

"You've done what you can by warning your father and you've given us good reasons why you should do this so we'll support you" his mother said hugging him. "But are you sure this isn't going to hurt Gabriella?"

"She says it doesn't worry her any more than it would have if I had to kiss Sharpay or Tiara Gold" Troy answered positively.

"And you believe her?" Lucille pushed concerned.

"Mom she knows 'm not gay" Troy protested. "And she knows I've been struggling with this stage kiss no matter who it is. I told her I would understand if she didn't want to come and watch and nobody would think anything odd about it if her flight got back too late for her to come but she says she wants to be there. Do you think she might be upset about this and not willing to tell me because she doesn't want to seem insecure or something?" he finished uncertainly.

"I don't know Troy. I'd be happier if you had talked about this in person instead of over Skype but Gabriella's right it shouldn't make a difference who you kiss on stage" Lucille answered.

"But you think it might?" Troy asked.

"It's not just the kiss itself. If you stage kissed Sharpay or this Tiara then some of your friends would tease you a little and unless you showed significant interest in the other girl no more would be said about it. Kissing Ryan even if it's part of the script isn't going to be forgotten so easily. Everyone's going to remember it and tease you three about it. Gabriella's smart enough to realise that this could follow you for the rest of your life" Lucille explained to her son.

"I'll talk to her some more about it. I don't have to give MsD a definite answer until tomorrow" Troy decided.

Lucille smiled "That's not what you told your father" she commented teasingly.

"I know. I thought he would take it easier if he thought I'd already committed to it but I wouldn't agree to anything until I'd spoken to you and Gabriella" Troy said smiling at his mother.

Ryan's mother was waiting for him when he got home. Mr Evans was in New York on business and Sharpay had screeched to a halt in front of the door almost hitting the house, and ran up to her room slamming the door behind her almost half an hour earlier.

"Hello Ducky! Did everything go alright at school today?" Darby Evans asked.

Ryan smiled "Hi Mom" he said kissing her cheek and taking the seat opposite her. "I got a new part in the Musicale."

"That's wonderful Ducky. Did Troy pull out?" Darby asked surprised.

"No Ms Darbus took Sharpay's part off her for unprofessional behaviour and bullying the composer, choreographer and the rest of the cast. She gave it to me" Ryan explained.

"Sharpay's part!" Darby exclaimed.

"Yeah she was pretty angry about it" Ryan said sighing. "It's going to be really unpleasant around here for the next couple of weeks."

Darby winced. Unpleasant was an understatement. She wondered if there was anything she could do . Perhaps Sharpay would like to spend a week in New York with her father when he went back next week. She mentioned it to Ryan.

"That's a great idea but there are only two weeks left of school and I don't think Sharpay has handed in all her term papers yet" he said thoughtfully.

"Then I'll just have to dangle the carrot and see if she can get them done in time. That might be a good thing. If she's busy finishing term papers so she can go to New York next week she won't have time to cause too much trouble." Sharpay was her father's little princes but her mother wasn't fooled. She knew exactly what a spoilt brat her daughter was but unfortunately it was easier to let her get her own way most of the time to keep the peace. Darby felt guilty that she wasn't a better mother but she just didn't have the energy to deal with her daughter most of the time. Rewarding her behaviour and allowing her a treat by letting her spend a week in New York wasn't the right thing to do but it was the only way she could see to re-establish peace in the house. She walked upstairs intending to talk to her daughter.

Darby paused at her daughter's bedroom door to listen for a moment. She couldn't hear anything so knocked on the door lightly.

"Go away" Sharpay screamed throwing the first thing to hand at the door. Unfortunately it was her favourite perfume bottle which smashed on the doorframe.

Deciding to give her daughter the evening to calm down Darby returned to the lounge to find Ryan reading through his script. "I thought you knew the whole thing by heart"

"I know all the songs but I never learned Sharpay's spoken lines" Ryan said absently.

"And who's going to play the part you had originally?" Darby asked.

"A junior called Jimmie Zara. He's on the basketball team and hangs around the musicale because he's got this creepy stalker thing happening with Troy" Ryan said smiling.

"So can the boy act?" Darby asked surprised.

Ryan sighed "I have no idea but he's been officially understudying all the male roles so he should at least know the lines."

"But it's an important role" Darby protested.

"It really isn't that demanding" Ryan admitted. "Jimmie's a real clown so long as he can bring his normal personality to the stage he should be fine with it. I'm more worried about him learning the dances. He doesn't move like a dancer. He's kind of awkward."

"As if he's grown too quickly and isn't used to how long his arms and legs are?" Darby asked.

Ryan laughed "Yeah like that."

"Kelsi and I have a meeting with MsD tomorrow before school to see what we can change because my dances were the most complicated."

"And Sharpay's dances?" Darby asked.

"I already know them all because I've been helping Troy, and originally Gabriella, rehearse" Ryan said calmly. "They all have to be a little less technical because Troy has no formal dance training though his athletic skills and balance help him learn new steps. I don't know what we're going to do about Sharpay's solo though" he said thinking hard about the problem.

"You and Troy seem to be very good friends. I didn't think you were close from what I saw over the summer" Darby said.

Ryan shrugged "He was having issues with Gabriella over the summer and was jealous of my friendship with her. He was also being led around by the nose by my sister I don't think he genuinely liked any Evans back then. We sorted it out once he realised I wasn't a threat to his relationship with Gabriella" he explained.

Darby laughed "I've seen the two of them together I don't think anyone is a threat to that relationship" she said surprised.

"They really do have something special" Ryan agreed a little wistfully.

"Are you jealous of their relationship?" Darby asked concerned.

"A little. Not of Troy or Gabriella but of the magic between them. I hope I meet someone I can feel that way about one day that also feels that way about me" Ryan said smiling. "I have some work I better get finished. We're going to be really busy with rehearsals until the show. I'm sorry I won't be home to help you deal with Sharpay's temper" he added before going to his room to study.

Sharpay came down for breakfast next morning red eyed and sullen. Darby had arisen early to catch her before she left for school.

"Your father will be home for a few days tonight. Would you like to go back with him when he returns to New York? We could take in the Broadway shows and get your new summer wardrobe" she said casually.

"You mean after school finishes?" Sharpay clarified confusedly.

"We'll no. Now you don't have rehearsals you are able to leave school as soon as you've handed in all your term papers" Darby explained.

Sharpay thought it over. It would be good to get away from school while everyone was talking about the show, especially if word got out that Ms Darbus had taken her role off her and given it to her brother. She'd felt a vicious satisfaction when she'd heard Tiara Gold had broken her ankle and had thought that meant Ms Darbus and the others would have to do things her way after all. To find that Ms Darbus was willing to ruin the show rather than back down was exasperating. And when the school found out she would be humiliated. It would be better not to be there. She could come back after the show and enjoy hearing about what a disaster it had been.

"I'd love to but I still have a couple of papers to finish" Sharpay admitted, if only because she knew that Ryan would have told her mother that.

"Then you'd better finish them up in the next few days if you want to go to New York" her mother said firmly. "I will be contacting the school to confirm your nonattendance."

Sharpay huffed but nodded. She excused herself to go get ready for school and Ryan also excused himself and left for school early saying he was meeting Kelsi to sort out the changes required due to his new role.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, old voldys gone moldy and foodbox for your support.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

"Good morning Kelsi" Ryan said entering the music room.

"Hi Ryan I was just looking through the songs you have. I think I need to move the solo down a key, but maybe you could try it this way first" Kelsi said handing him a copy of the original solo before she'd transposed it for Sharpay.

"Hmm! Can you play it for me and I'll try it?" Ryan said uncertainly.

They ran through the song twice before Ryan said apologetically "I'm sorry to make you redo it again but I think it's still too high."

Kelsi laughed "Oh I haven't redone it. This is the version I wrote when Gabriella was going to sing it."

Ryan laughed too. "What made you think I could sing Gabriella's version if I couldn't sing it after you dumbed it down for Sharpay?"

Kelsi shrugged, "Well I didn't really, I just thought it was worth a try."

"What about my original solo? Have you heard Jimmie sing at all?"

"Yes and luckily his range is similar so I shouldn't have to change it though he's not much of a singer"

"And even less of a dancer" Ryan said grimacing.

"What are you going to do that's the most technically complicated dance in the show?" Kelsi asked. "He hasn't got time to l improve that much no matter how hard he works at it?"

"It would be almost easier to change the story line enough to give me or Troy that solo and have Jimmie just do the opening bit" Ryan said doubtfully. "But I wouldn't want MsD to think I was angling to increase my part."

"Maybe if she sees Jimmie dance and then I could make the suggestion. Leave it with me and I'll see if I can make the storyline work like that. There'll have to be a couple of other changes. I can't imagine you playing a girl role in the prom scene or Troy taking you to prom if you don't" Kelsi said thoughtfully.

"Can you see if you can write the kiss out too?" Ryan asked hopefully.

"I'll try" Kelsi promised grinning. "Though you had better practice it in case Darbus won't go for it."

Ryan blushed "I'll talk to Troy."

"Talk to Troy about what?" Troy said walking in.

"Hi Troy we were discussing what changes we need to make if Ryan plays the role" Kelsi said brightly.

"Such as writing out the kissing scene?" Troy asked hopefully.

Ryan nodded but Kelsi just laughed. "More how we're going to cope with the fact that Jimmie Zara is now playing Ryan's old part and I don't think he can sing or dance well enough for 'I want it all.' I'm trying to rework it so you or Ryan could do it.

Troy thought about the dance. "It needs to be Ryan for the girls to lift at the end. I outweigh him by at least twenty pounds."

Kelsi and Ryan nodded. "Yeah" she agreed deep in thought before grabbing a pencil and writing furiously.

Troy and Ryan watched for a while before walking away. "We're also concerned with the prom scene" Ryan said. "Have you got any ideas?"

"You mean you don't want to be my date for prom?" Troy said feigning being mortally wounded.

"It's not you Troy I just don't swing that way. Besides I don't think I could pull of the costume"

"You know you could totally rock a prom dress and heels if you wanted to" Troy teased.

"But I don't want to and I don't know how girls walk in heels let alone dance" Ryan said dryly.

Troy laughed "no I don't either" he agreed. "I don't know why they do it. Gabriella loves her shoes and they make her feet so sore sometimes but she still wears them" Troy said shaking his head in confusion.

"It's partly that you're so much taller than she is. The heels make her a better height to dance or walk with you" Kelsi explained walking back over to them.

"I'm not tall" Troy protested.

Kelsi looked at him in shock. "Troy I barely reach your shoulder" she said.

"Yeah but that's cause ... you couldn't be my little sister if we were the same size" Troy said deciding at the last minute that it wouldn't be good for his health to call her a midget.

Kelsi almost glared wondering what he'd been going to say before that last minute hesitation, knowing it wouldn't be complimentary but deciding to let it go.

"You're taller than most guys" she said.

"Yeah but not for a basketball player. I'll be the shortest guy on the team next year" Troy said worriedly.

"I guess it's a matter of perspective. You're tall for a dancer" Ryan said awkwardly.

Kelsi hugged Troy. "Don't worry Troy. The scouts knew how tall you were when they picked you. They must think you're good enough for it not to matter" she said supportively.

"Did you work out the changes already?" Troy asked.

"Yeah if we add Ryan to this conversation before the song like this it would work" Kelsi said showing them the new dialogue.

"Yeah that looks great" Troy said reading it through.

"And it isn't too many new lines for me or Jimmie to learn, we'll run it after school. Do you have any ideas for the prom scene?"

"No the biggest problem is that with Sharpay and Tiara both out we don't have enough girls" Kelsi said frowning.

"Jimmie was originally in that scene, we could cut him out if we had to" Ryan said thoughtfully.

"Gabriella already knows that dance and she'll be back in time for us to run through it once or twice before the show" Troy suggested hopefully.

"And then Ryan can do this duet and Gabriella can still have the kissing scene" Kelsi said writing furiously again.

"I don't want to throw cold water on the idea but does our duet work if our characters aren't together?" Troy asked doubtfully.

Ryan ran through the lyrics in his head. "No it doesn't" he said disappointed.

"But how can you both dance with girls in the prom scene then? Shouldn't you dance together?" Kelsi asked.

"No even if you were gay you'd probably go to the prom with a girl just as friends. Unless you're totally out there" Troy said "And your dance with Ryan is too good to give up."

"What about Tiara's solo?" Ryan asked. "We need someone to do that too."

"Maybe Darbus will let Sharpay do it?" Troy said. "She learned it before Gabriella decided to go to do the honours program."

"I don't think she will. She was pretty pissed off yesterday. We could ask around surely one of the juniors is a dancer and would like to try it" Kelsi suggested.

"There's a girl in my Jazz class that's quite good. She didn't audition because she hates Sharpay" Ryan suggested. "I'm sure she'd love to steal her solo."

Troy and Kelsi laughed. "And if she's a dancer she could be the extra girl in the prom number too so Jimmie could still be in that" Kelsi said.

"It would save a lot of extra rehearsals to change the blocking if she can" Ryan agreed. "Let's go talk to Darbus and I'll go ask her."

Troy was astonished at how well Kelsi and Ryan worked together under pressure. They'd bounced ideas off each other until they pretty much had replanned the whole musical with very limited input from him.

He went with Kelsi to see if MsD would approve the changes.

"I hadn't imagined so many changes would have to be made" Ms Darbus exclaimed perturbed. "Perhaps I was overly hasty in dismissing Miss Evans."

"No we're not bringing this up for you to give her back the part. None of us want to work with her. Ryan and Kelsi have planned out all the changes and there really isn't that much new stuff for any one person to learn. I'm sure we can do it" Troy said enthusiastically.

"Who is this dancer Ryan's talking about? And why hasn't she been in our Musicale before now?"

"Umm. She always refused to work with Sharpay" Kelsi explained hesitantly.

"So you're saying this unacceptable behaviour I've only just become aware of has actually been going on for some time?" Ms Darbus said slowly.

Kelsi looked at Troy for a moment before admitting "Ever since I've known her. Troy and Gabriella helped me get over being so afraid of her and stand up for myself last year."

Ms Darbus looked at Troy who nodded. "She hasn't changed. I don't know why you're suddenly noticing the problem now and not before" he said.

Ms Darbus sighed. "I was so happy to have someone with talent that wanted to play the lead role in every production and was prepared to put the work in to learning the role and the dances that I overlooked the fact that I was letting her have her own way too much" she admitted. "I wonder how many other students have been driven away by Miss Evan's behaviour."

"I guess you'll find out next year" Kelsi said.

"Don't punish yourself too much MsD. You don't need performers that are that easily driven away. The theatre takes commitment and bravery" Troy said grinning cheekily as he repeated back to her something she had said several times in the past.

Ms Darbus smiled at Troy "Thank you for that reminder but the person I've hurt the most in my blindness is Miss Evans. She has the talent to make a huge name for herself as a stage performer but if she cannot take direction then all that talent will be wasted."

"Sharpay is responsible for her own actions too MsD" Troy reminded her.

"But she is the child and I am the adult. I should have foreseen where her actions were taking her" Estelle Darbus said sadly.

"Perhaps she'll learn from this" Troy said though he doubted it.

Ryan came back with a pretty blonde girl. "Hey everyone this is Helena who will be dancing Sharpay's solo and taking her place in the prom numbers" he introduced. "Helena this is Kelsi our composer and Troy who's playing the male lead."

"One of the male leads" Troy corrected smiling.

"Will I be dancing with you in the Prom scene?" Helena asked smiling.

"I'm not sure yet. It probably will be with Zeke. We won't know til tomorrow but the dance is the same either way" Troy explained.

Helena's smile dimmed slightly to be dancing with Sharpay's boyfriend wouldn't be easy for her. "So can we run through it together now so I can get started learning it?"

"Sure we have time. Do you want to watch Kelsi and Ryan run through it first?" Troy answered walking towards the auditorium.

"That would be good if you guys don't mind" Helena replied.

"We don't really have time if I'm to get all the other changes written before rehearsal tonight" Kelsi said. She saw Chad and Taylor talking and called out to them "Hey guys do you have ten minutes to come help show Helena the prom number, she'll be taking Sharpay's place.

Chad and Taylor both nodded and walked over joined by Zeke, Jason and Martha.

"You're taking over the lead role? How on earth are you going to learn all the dances not to mention the lines in time?" Taylor said astonished.

"Umm no I'm just doing the prom numbers and Sharpay's solo?" Helena said giggling nervously.

"Who's going to take the rest of Sharpay's role? And why didn't they give you all of it? I thought Tiara Gold was understudying it" Taylor asked.

"And what's wrong with Sharpay?" Zeke asked now worried that he'd not been able to get through to her last night.

"Tiara broke her ankle over the weekend. And Sharpay threw one tantrum too many and Darbus took the part away from her" Ryan explained.

"Ouch!" Chad exclaimed.

"Sucks to be you today man" Jason said to his friend.

"Yeah I should go and find her" Zeke said uncertainly.

"No you shouldn't. She's not here yet anyway" Ryan told his sister's boyfriend. "Meet her in homeroom like you always do."

"But she wasn't answering her phone last night she'll expect me to be worried about her even if I didn't know about this" Zeke said uncertainly.

"Unless you have cookies for her all you could do would be listen to her rant. You'd be better off practicing the dance with your new partner" Ryan argued.

"Just don't talk about it with Sharpay. She doesn't like me" Helena told him wanting to be up front about it.

"Sharpay doesn't like anyone unless they can be useful to her" Troy said cynically.

Both Ryan and Zeke wanted to protest but knew Troy had good reason to feel that way.

Kelsi went to the piano to write while Ryan put the prom number on the sound system and Taylor and Chad went through the dance to show Helena.

She and Zeke then started going through the steps slowly while Troy rang Gabriella to ask her if she would be willing to partner him in the prom number.

"Good morning Troy, is your meeting with Ryan and Kelsi over already?" Gabriella asked.

"Kind of we sorted some stuff out and Kelsi's busy writing some changes. Ryan asked a friend to take Sharpay's part in the prom scene but then we realised that Tiara was in that scene too so I wondered if you wanted to do it seeing you already know that number?" Troy rambled.

"You mean the actual dance at prom not the getting ready scenes?" Gabriella clarified.

"Yeah. You could dance with me and Helena will dance with Zeke" Troy said hopefully.

"I don't know Troy I haven't thought about that dance in weeks and I can't practice here" Gabriella replied doubtfully.

"Well if you want to do it we could rehearse this weekend when you come home for prom and you'll be home in time to run through it a couple of times before the show" Troy said encouragingly.

"If I say no who will you dance with?" Gabriella asked.

"Ryan's friend Helena. She looks like she's picking it up pretty quickly but with all the other changes I have to learn it would be better if she partnered Zeke" Troy answered.

"Do I know her?" Gabriella asked frowning as she could not picture the girl.

"Probably not, I didn't" Troy admitted. "She's a junior Ryan knows from dance classes. She never joined the drama club because she hates Sharpay."

"Well you should get along fine. You already have something in common" Gabriella laughed.

"Yeah she seems nice" Troy agreed. "Please at least think about doing the prom number."

"I'll think about it" Gabriella said. "I've got to go class is about to start."

"Shit I've got to get to homeroom. Bye Gabriella, love you" he said running in that direction.

"I love you Troy. Have a good day I'll talk to you tonight" Gabriella said disconnecting the call.

Troy ran across the school and slid into his seat just as the bell rang. "Good of you to join us Mr Bolton"

Troy turned to Chad and rolled his eyes. "Sorry I'm late MsD. I got caught up."

"I'll see you in rehearsal during free period" Ms Darbus said firmly.

"Okay MsD, Gabriella says Hi" Troy said grinning cheekily knowing it wasn't a real detention, he'd have been there anyway.

Ryan and Troy looked at each other awkwardly. The rehearsals that day had gone well so far. Ryan had been busy getting Helena and Jimmie up to speed with the dances and Troy had been helping Kelsi by reading through the speaking parts to make sure they still all made sense with the new division of the roles.

MsD had finally cornered them though and sent them off to practice the kissing scene by themselves this time stating that they'd better practice because they'd be running through it on stage tomorrow.

They got through the opening lines all right though it was a little awkward saying romantic lines to another guy but when it came to the kiss they hesitated then both burst out laughing. The problem then was they couldn't stop every time Troy got himself under control he'd look at Ryan and start giggling again. And no sooner had Ryan settled down than the sight of Troy would set him off.

Finally they called it quits. "Let's take ten and come back and try again" Ryan said.

"Okay" Troy said pulling his phone out to text Gabriella to see if she was free to talk.

"Hey Troy what's up?" Gabriella asked when she called a few minutes later.

"Hi Gabriella did I interrupt?" Troy asked guiltily.

"No we were just studying together for class tomorrow" Gabriella reassured him. "Are you finished with rehearsals already?"

"No Ryan and I are taking a quick break. We keep getting the giggles when we try to kiss" Troy explained.

Gabriella giggled.

"Hey" Troy protested "you're supposed to help not laugh at me."

"I'm sorry Troy" Gabriella said not sounding too repentant.

Ryan ducked his head back in "do you need a few more minutes?" He asked.

"No Gabriella's too busy laughing at me to give me any sensible advice" Troy said knowing his wife would hear.

"Hi Gabriella" Ryan called.

"Hey Ryan have fun rehearsing" Gabriella replied giggling.

Troy ended the call without saying goodbye. "Let's get back to work" he said.

Ryan frowned hoping this wasn't causing problems between his friends. "Okay" he agreed.

Troy said his first line and they quickly ran through the scene. There was no laughing this time as Troy put his hand up to hold Ryan's chin and kissed him slowly but chastely.

It took Ryan a second to recover and say his next line but his embarrassment wasn't out of character and Troy thought that it would work well enough like that.

"Shall we run it again?" Ryan asked.

Troy nodded thoughtfully. "I think we need to change this line here or add something to it" he said pointing to his line after the kiss. "You're reaction works but I think if this is their first kiss then they would both be worried about whether the over person was willing to let other people know they were more than friends."

"Yeah and worried about how their parents and friends will react" Ryan added.

Troy nodded thoughtfully "but it's kinda too near the end of the show to add a new story line. We should go and ask Kelsi what she thinks" Troy said.

"This could change the whole feel of the last act" Ryan said worried. "This isn't the way she wanted it to feel at the end."

"Should we just ignore the problem?" Troy asked.

"Ryan shrugged I don't know"

They walked out to find Kelsi.

"How is the practice going boys?" Ms Darbus asked concerned to see them leave the room before the end of rehearsal.

"The actual rehearsal went okay but we noticed a potential problem with a couple of lines so we thought we'd come and ask Kelsi what she thought" Troy explained.

"What's the problem?" Kelsi asked.

"Just whether you wanted to touch on all the other issues that would come up with a first kiss between two people of the same sex. How they'd be worrying about whether to tell everyone or keep it in the closet and how their friends and families will react."

"What are your thoughts?" Kelsi asked frowning.

"I think that we don't really have the time to deal with it all" Troy said bluntly "but that it doesn't feel real not to."

"I agree with Troy. Bringing up all these issues changes the whole feel of the end of the show and I don't think we want to do that, but it feels too shallow not to" Ryan said sighing.

Kelsi sighed "Troy's right we don't have time, the changes we've made already make the show ten minutes longer than it was and Ryan's right that it would make the ending less..." Kelsi trailed off.

"I want to leave it" Kelsi said a few minutes later. "I want to ignore the whole homosexual theme and present it as just two people in love." She looked at the others to see their reaction.

Troy nodded. "Yeah that works for me."

"If you think that's best" MsD agreed.

Ryan didn't say anything but nodded his agreement with his face blank. He walked over to the stage and started helping Zeke and Helena with their dance moves.

Troy and Kelsi watched him go worried. "Leave him to sort it out Troy. I'll talk to him later" Kelsi said.

Troy gave her a quick hug. "Thanks Kelsi, call me if Gabriella or I can help."

"Okay Troy I'll see you tomorrow" Kelsi said.

Troy collected his stuff and stood watching the rehearsal from the side of the stage.

Chad came up and saw Troy watching Ryan helping Zeke and Helena. "Hey Troy. I heard about Ryan taking Sharpay's part" he said nonjudgmentally.

"Hey Chad" Troy replied glad his friend wasn't upset about the change in casting.

"How's Gabriella? Did you tell her about this?" Chad asked.

"Of course. I wouldn't have agreed if Gabriella wasn't okay with it" Troy said surprised that Chad needed to ask.

"So does she think two guys kissing is hot like Taylor and Martha do?" Chad teased.

"Taylor and Martha said what!?" Troy exclaimed surprised.

"Not just them Kelsi and that new girl Helena too. They can't wait to actually see you guys kiss. Freaks me out a bit if you ask me" Chad replied slapping Troy on the shoulder.

Troy groaned. "It's not hot. It's dammed awkward" he grumbled.

"Is it causing problems for you and Ryan?" Chad asked, watching how Troy was watching the other boy from the shadows.

"Something's upset him" Troy answered absently. "And I worry about how the rest of the school will react when they find out. We'll have to keep an eye out for him."

"And you too" Chad said.

Troy shook his head dismissively, "Everyone knows I'm in love with Gabriella. I might take some flack from the homophobes about taking this role but Ryan's never dated anyone and he spends a lot more time alone than I do. He'd be an easier target. The cowards aren't going to go after me."

"You realise the bitches might use it to try and break up you and Gabriella?" Chad asked.

"Is that your theory or Taylor's?" Troy said snidely.

"Taylor's worried about it" Chad replied.

"Tell her she doesn't need to. Gabriella really is fine with this she encouraged me to agree to play the part opposite Ryan. It isn't going to cause problems between us" Troy said reassuringly.

"And are you really okay doing it" Chad asked his brother in all but blood.

"It's the right thing to do" Troy said simply.

"Bloody Hell Troy! That's not what I asked. Of course you're going to go through with it if you believe that but how do you really feel about it?" Chad argued.

"It's acting. If I want to major in theatre in college then I'll have to do a lot of things I wouldn't choose to do in real life. Honestly I never wanted to kiss anyone except Gabriella for the whole of my life but it was never going to work that way. Kissing Ryan isn't any harder than kissing complete stranger or anyone else and probably easier than kissing Sharpay. At least it isn't one of the bitches that would use the fact I had to kiss them to hurt Gabriella."

"If Gabriella's really okay with it she's not going to let the gossip bitches upset her" Chad said reassuringly.

Kelsi caught up with Ryan as they left rehearsal. "Can we talk for a minute?" she asked.

"I'm pretty tired. Can it wait til tomorrow?" Ryan replied.

"Are you okay?" Kelsi asked.

"I'm fine Kels" Ryan said dismissively.

"I was worried about your reaction to our conversation earlier. I can make some changes to that scene if it's important to you" Kelsi said.

"No you're right it's more important to end the show on a high note than try to bog down in angsty decisions" Ryan said.

"If I'm right then why were you so upset about it?" Kelsi asked shrewdly.

"I don't know. It seems that we're somehow cheating the characters to ignore such a huge part of who they are."

"We're not ignoring it. The characters are just two people in love. It makes no difference who plays the roles, it's the love between the two of them that's important not all the self consciousness and fear of other people's reactions" Kelsi said.

"Can it really be that simple?" Ryan asked.

"In an ideal world it would be" Kelsi answered quietly. "They shouldn't have to face bigotry and discrimination or fear of their families and friends disapproval any more than anybody else."

"But we don't live in an ideal world Kelsi" Ryan said sadly.

Kelsi hugged her friend. "Maybe not but even in this one there are places that alternative lifestyles are accepted" she said reassuringly.

"Is this personal?" she asked carefully.

Ryan shook his head. "Not the way you think. My cousin committed suicide a couple of months ago. Nobody mentions it but he was gay. My aunt and uncle liked to pretend they didn't know. I wonder if that was the reason, that he just got tired of having to always pretend to be someone he's not."

"I'm sorry Ryan" Kelsi said with tears in her eyes as she hugged him.

After a few minutes she pulled away and asked carefully. "Do you want me to tell the others about your cousin to stop them from asking questions? Troy was concerned about you today, which of course means Gabriella will be concerned too once he talks to her tonight."

"Yeah, It might be better if they know but can you tell them that I don't want to talk about it" Ryan said sadly.

"Sure. But we're here for you if you need us in any way. Even if it's just to give you a place to hide away from the rest of the world" Kelsi said hugging him again.

Taylor called Gabriella that night

"Hey Taylor how's East High?" Gabriella asked cheerfully.

"Have you heard from Troy about the trouble with Sharpay at rehearsals?" Taylor asked not quite believing Chad when he told her that Gabriella had been told about what happened and was fine with Ryan playing the romantic role with Troy and worried about her friend.

"Yeah Troy told me she lost the part because she refused to do the songs the way they were written and Ms Darbus finally lost her temper with her and told her to choose between behaving professionally and losing the part"

"Did he tell you that she's given the part to Ryan?" Taylor asked.

"Of course. He called me straight away to help him make a decision whether they should do this or not. I spoke to Ryan about it too" Gabriella said firmly.

"And you're really okay with your husband kissing another boy on stage in front of the whole school?" Taylor asked incredulously.

"What's the difference between having to kiss Sharpay or having to kiss Ryan? It's just a stage kiss it's not like he's cheating on me" Gabriella asked her friend. "If he's going to be a successful actor I'm going to have to get used to situations like this."

Taylor was quiet for a moment trying to think of a way to put her feelings about the situation into words.

"It's different" she insisted though unusually for her she could not articulate why.

"No it isn't. If anything it's easier because I trust Ryan and I know Troy's not at all attracted to him" Gabriella refuted.

"But what about what everyone will say?" Taylor asked.

"School finishes the week after the show. If Troy can't stand up to a few comments for a couple of days then he never would have survived this year" Gabriella said dryly.

Taylor laughed. "I guess you're right" she said doubtfully.

"If you're worried then ask Chad to keep an eye on him and Ryan" Gabriella suggested.

"Do you think I need to?" Taylor asked worriedly.

"I don't think so but you know the school better than I do. I don't know any openly gay guys at school, is that because someone's been bashed for their sexual orientation in the past?" Gabriella asked.

"I haven't heard of any bashings. I'll ask Chad maybe he has" Taylor replied.

"I know Troy wasn't concerned about it" Gabriella said anxiously. "But he's never had any bullying issues in the past so he has no idea how serious it can get."

"I'll ask Chad to make sure the guys keep an eye on him for you. They don't know how lucky they are" Taylor agreed.

"Their popularity has downsides too" Gabriella reminded her. "I wouldn't want to deal with the pressure they have to cope with during the season."

"You're right about that. We'd never get anyone to stay on the decathlon team if they had the expectations of the school riding on their performance every meet like that" Taylor agreed.

"How's the yearbook coming along? Gabriella asked changing the subject.

"It's fine. Never mind that how is Stanford?

The two talked for another half hour before Gabriella made excuses to go so she could contact Troy.

Gabriella eventually called Troy that night at ten thirty after waiting half an hour for him to answer her Skype request.

"Hey Gabriella" Troy answered cheerfully.

"Hey Troy are you still at rehearsals?" Gabriella asked hearing noise in the background.

"No I'm just watching the game with Dad" Troy replied.

Gabriella frowned usually Troy was waiting anxiously for her to Skype him. Didn't he want to talk to her tonight?

"How'd the rehearsal go?" Gabriella asked.

"You laughed at me" Troy said remembering their earlier conversation.

"Did I work to get you to stop laughing and concentrate?" Gabriella asked.

"You did it on purpose?" Troy asked astonished. He said goodnight to his Dad and walked upstairs to open the Skype connection so he could see Gabriella while they talked.

"No I must admit that I found it funny but I would have tried harder to apologise if I didn't think my reaction would stop you from giggling. I didn't mean to hurt you. Did it help?" Gabriella asked smiling at him as he came up on her screen.

Troy sighed "Yeah it did. We got through the scene alright in the end. But them we started thinking about whether we should include all the other issues that would come up not being a traditional boy/girl relationship"

"And what did you decide? That will be difficult to write" Gabriella said.

"We decided to just ignore it as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. The kiss is supposed to be part of the happy ending not a whole new can of worms. Ryan was a bit strange about it all though" Troy said sounding concerned.

"In what way?" Gabriella asked.

"I dunno he was fine while we were rehearsing but once we went to talk to Kelsi and MsD and they decided not to change the scene he just nodded and walked off. Kelsi said she'd talk to him but…"

"Is it possible that this issue is a bit more personal to him?" Gabriella asked carefully remembering how Troy had refused to consider the idea last time she'd brought it up.

Troy sighed again "I dunno. I would hope that he would be able to tell us if he was having problems with the kiss. I wouldn't have agreed to do it if I thought it would cause problems for him" he said.

"Troy he wanted to do this and he was right it's important for his drama school applications. If he's struggling with it now it's not your fault. All you can do is offer support. It's up to him if he wants to take it" Gabriella said encouragingly.

Troy was quiet for a moment. "Yeah you're right" he said dropping the subject. "How was your day?"

"It was fine. We got quite a bit of the research for tomorrow done together which made it easier" Gabriella replied. "How did the rest of the day go?"

"The rest of rehearsals were good. Helena's picking up the dances really well, Jimmie plays his role very different to the way Ryan played it but his clowning around sort of works anyway and he's started to learn his dances, and we've sorted out most if the script changes required so I just have to learn the new lines" Troy said more enthusiastically.

"That's great Troy" Gabriella said smiling.

"Yeah it is. Kelsi worked really hard" Troy replied trying to stifle a yawn.

"Time for bed Troy" Gabriella said smiling gently at her husband.

"Goodnight Gabriella love you" Troy said starting to get undressed.

Gabriella smiled enjoying the inadvertent show. She reminded herself to talk to Troy about being more careful when he was Skyping other people. "Goodnight Troy" She said disconnecting.

Ryan wasn't there yet when Troy arrived for rehearsal early next morning. He wandered around looking for him until he heard Kelsi playing the piano. "Hey Kelsi, did you get a chance to talk to Ryan last night" he asked.

"Hey Troy I didn't know you had rehearsals this morning" Kelsi smiled at him. "How is Gabriella?"

Troy smiled "She's fine. What happened with Ryan?" He asked again.

"I offered to change the part to include the stuff you were talking about but he agreed that we were right not to. He was upset about something that happened with his cousin but he really doesn't want to talk about it" Kelsi replied. "I hope I didn't make things worse. He's usually here by now" she added fretting.

"I'm sure you didn't" Troy said reassuringly. "He knows you're concerned because you care about him. He'll talk about it when he's ready."

"I told him you were worried too" Kelsi confessed.

Troy nodded. "Not much more we can do. If he's still upset today then I'll get Gabriella to call him tonight. Maybe he'll find it easier to confide in someone who's not involved."

"No Troy. His cousin committed suicide and the only reason he asked me to tell you is so you don't bring it up again" Kelsi said.

"He didn't say anything about it. Do you know when it happened?" Troy asked concerned.

Kelsi didn't answer instead turning towards the door as she heard footsteps hoping it was Ryan.

"Hey guys" Ryan greeted them. "I didn't think you were here this morning."

Troy shrugged "I woke up early and decided I may as well come down and see if I can make myself useful."

Ryan grinned "eager to practice the kiss" he teased. "I know you're missing Gabriella but I'm sorry dude you just don't do it for me."

Troy laughed glad Ryan was in a better mood. "Gabriella says hi" he replied. "What can I do to help?"

"How're you going with your new lines?" Ryan asked.

"I think I've got them down" Troy replied.

"Do you want to go through the final dance again?" Kelsi suggested. "It'll save some time this afternoon and the set's in place on the stage, they were working on it last night after rehearsal."

Troy and Ryan nodded. They walked towards the auditorium and set up the music to run through the dance.

Ryan was panting once they'd been through the song and dance three times in quick succession but they'd got through it without mistakes. "We did it" Troy exclaimed.

Ryan smiled "Yes" he agreed excitedly. "We're ready. We're going to nail this"

The rest of the weeks rehearsals went relatively smoothly, everyone was more relaxed without Sharpay there arguing over every direction Ryan gave, and soon it was Friday and they had the afternoon off to get ready for Prom.

"I'll see you and Gabriella tomorrow to practice the prom scene dance. Do you want to come by home and use our rehearsal studio? It will save having to get a staff member to let us in here" Ryan suggested.

"Aren't you coming to the Prom?" Troy asked surprised.

"Yeah I'm taking Kelsi" Ryan said. "I'll see you there but I thought we'd get this sorted now because if you want to rehearse here we need to set a time and organise for someone to let us in."

"No we can work at your place as long as you keep Sharpay away from me" Troy replied.

"Believe me she doesn't want anything to do with the show" Ryan reassured him.

"What time do you want us tomorrow?" Troy asked.

"Call me when you wake up" Ryan suggested. "I haven't got anything else planned."

"Sure, see you tonight" Troy smiled at his friend before leaving to meet Gabriella's plane.

A/N: Thankyou to Pumpkinking5 and brinew for your support.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

Ryan met Troy and Gabriella at the door as they arrived at his house to practice at eleven the morning after prom. "Sharpay's still asleep" he said leading them straight to his practice studio and shutting and locking the door.

"Should we come back later so we don't wake her up?" Gabriella asked.

"No dad had this room soundproofed a couple of years ago" Ryan said casually.

"I'd love to have a soundproof room" Troy said thinking about all the times Gabriella had been worried about his parents overhearing them.

Gabriella blushed violently causing Ryan to laugh. "Can't say I've ever thought about that use for it" he teased good-naturedly.

"Shall we get on with the rehearsal" Gabriella interrupted before Troy could comment.

"Sure" Ryan agreed starting the music. "How much do you remember?"

"Troy sent me a recording so I know the moves I just need to practice in a space that's not the size of a closet" Gabriella replied getting into position in front of Troy.

Ryan laughed again. "Living in college dorms is going to be quite a change isn't it" he said ruefully.

"Yeah it was" Gabriella agreed. "Sharing the bathroom with three other girls was the worst though."

Ryan shuddered. "Sharing a bathroom" he whispered.

"Yeah if I was going to live in the dorms next year I'd definitely put a mirror in my room so I could do my hair and makeup in there" Gabriella said.

Ryan started the music again and this time they concentrated running through the prom number with surprisingly few mistakes. Troy had done this dance with three different girls now one of them a near professional dancer but still felt an extra magic when dancing with the woman he loved even though technically she was the worst dancer of the three.

Ryan could also see that the two of them together were something special. Unfortunately this dance which had to be performed in unison with almost a dozen other couples needed to be perfectly on the beat and he ran them through the dance until Gabriella begged for mercy.

Ryan served them drinks from the bar fridge in the corner and knowing Troy would be hungry asked them to wait there while he got some food. He rang the cook asking her to make sandwiches for four people telling her he'd collect them in ten minutes.

He came back with the platter piled high.

"There are only three of us" Gabriella said confused.

"Please tell me Sharpay isn't going to join us" Troy added.

"No it's just the three of us but I've seen how Troy and Chad can eat so I asked for extra" Ryan explained grinning at his friend.

"Ha Ha" Troy replied making Gabriella laugh.

They ate companionably.

"How are you coping with the kissing scene?" Gabriella asked Ryan.

Ryan looked at Troy questioningly. "She's fine with it and she'd not asking just cause she thinks it's hot. Gabriella and I are your friends. We want to know that you're really okay with all this" he told his friend.

"The kiss itself is a bit awkward especially since I have next to no experience with real kisses" Ryan said shrugging.

"And everyone else's reactions?" Gabriella pressed.

Ryan shrugged "Only the rest of the cast and crew know. Most of them have been pretty supportive, at least the ones I talk to have" he said.

"The girls are a bit weird" Troy said shuddering.

"Half of them think it's hot and want to watch us practice, the other half want details on what it's like to kiss the Troy Bolton" Ryan explained when Gabriella looked confused.

Gabriella laughed, "Well I must admit the idea of two seeing hot guys kissing would have a certain appeal if my husband wasn't one of them" she admitted blushing slightly. "And the questions about kissing Troy are annoying but they'll stop after a while if you refuse to tell them anything" she tried to reassure him.

"And how long did that take?" Ryan asked.

Gabriella looked guilty "Umm I don't think you want to know" she prevaricated.

Ryan sighed. "So not before I leave for New York" he said.

"I noticed you and Kelsi seemed quite close last night. Are you going out or was it just the magic of prom night?" Gabriella asked nonjudgmentally.

"We're dating but just casually. Neither of us wants to risk getting into a serious relationship when I'm moving to New York in a few months and Kelsi won't be unless she gets the Juilliard scholarship" Ryan replied.

"You're definitely moving to New York?" Troy asked.

"I got an offer from NYU" Ryan confirmed. "I'll accept it next week if I don't get an offer from Juilliard."

"So if Kelsi gets the scholarship you'll be in New York together" Gabriella said smiling.

"Yeah" Ryan agreed. "If you're finished eating let's get back to work" he said wanting to escape the interrogation.

Gabriella groaned as Troy helped her to her feet.

They ran through the song until Ryan was satisfied they were getting the timing right. He would have liked to have them dance with another couple but everyone else was busy today.

"Okay let's leave it there he said. What time do you leave tomorrow?"

"I need to leave for the airport by eleven at the latest" Gabriella said.

"Damn, I was hoping to have some of the other couples here so you could practice dancing in sync" Ryan replied. Can you be here by 8.30 if I can organise it?"

"We'll be here" Gabriella promised. "I have to go now though I want to catch up with Taylor this afternoon."

"Gabriella jumped at the sudden loud angry screeching sound coming from the back of the house as Ryan walked them towards the front door. "What was that?" she asked concerned.

"Sharpay" Ryan said calmly.

"We'll see you tomorrow" Troy said moving more quickly.

"Is she mad because we're here?" Gabriella asked anxiously.

"Dad must have told her that he and Mom have to go to India next week" Ryan said. "She was planning on going to New York with them for a few days away."

"Is that why she's been so quiet this week?" Troy asked.

"Yeah she's been trying to get all her term papers in so she could have next week off" Ryan explained following them outside.

"So now she's finished them she'll be free to hang around and criticise rehearsals" Troy said sighing as he climbed into his truck.

"No she's no longer part of the cast and MsD won't let her in unless she's willing to help paint scenery or something which she won't" Ryan reassured him

He watched Troy's truck head down the drive before getting out his scooter and heading to Kelsi's.

Gabriella was still yawning as she and Troy pulled up in front of the Evans house, because of the early hour (and wanting to avoid Sharpay) Troy text Ryan to let them in instead of ringing the doorbell.

"Hey guy's you're the first, do you want to head into the studio to start warming up. Kelsi, Helena and Jimmie should be here any minute" Ryan said smiling.

"Is Sharpay still asleep?" Troy asked.

"I expect so" Ryan answered absently.

"Has she calmed down?" Gabriella asked.

"I haven't seen her since you left yesterday. I spent the afternoon and evening hanging out with Kelsi" Ryan said.

"Hanging out or hiding out?" Troy teased.

"Like you didn't almost run out of here with you tail between your legs" Ryan teased back.

Gabriella grinned to hear the two of them getting on so well together. Her friend Ryan had had a lonely life in his sister's shadow. It was good to see him holding his own and enjoying it.

They started stretching, Gabriella groaning as she stretched out muscles sore from dancing or her position on Troy's lap the night before. The others arrived as they were warming up and Troy introduced Gabriella to Helena.

Zeke looked particularly nervous to be there and Gabriella realised that if Sharpay found them there her boyfriend would bear the brunt of her anger.

They ran through the number a couple of times. Ryan was right they did need to practice with the others to get the timing exactly right. The others were appreciative of the ability to practice in the studio where they could see their mistakes and the difference it made to be exactly on the beat.

"I know we won't all fit but you should get the others here to practice so they can get the timing right too" Troy suggested.

"I'll bring it up on Monday and see who's interested, but we'll have to work around Sharpay it's her studio too" Ryan agreed.

"I'd be interested in dancing here again. It'll really help" Helena replied.

"Yeah this place is really cool" Jimmie added.

"Okay guys back to work let's run through it one more time before Troy and Gabriella have to get to the airport" Ryan said restarting the music.

They'd just finished and were gathering up their stuff when Sharpay walked into the studio in her dance gear and stopped short to see the others. "What are they all doing here?" she demanded.

Ryan walked over to talk to his sister in the hope that she would lower her voice before she insulted his friends. "They came to practice the prom number with Gabriella so she could get her timing down seeing as she won't be back until Friday."

"What's that got to do with anything? She's not in the show! She left" Sharpay said crossly.

"We needed another girl to balance the numbers now that you and Tiara are both out" Ryan explained. "Gabriella already knew the dance so she agreed to do just this number."

"That is the best dance ion the show. I suppose I could offer to fill the other position" Sharpay said acting like she would be doing them a huge favour. "If it was worth my while. It would save having total amateurs mess it up" She added eager to get back into the show but wanting to know what else she could get out of her brother for her assistance believing she was in control of the situation.

"That won't be necessary" Ryan said calmly. "We've filled the position and it's going really well."

"Who's taken the other position? Tiara and I were both in this number" Sharpay reminded her brother.

"It's not your problem Sharpay. I doubt Ms Darbus would allow you to do it anyway. And surely you don't want to spend all next week hanging around watching rehearsals just to be in one number" Ryan said firmly.

"Who?" Sharpay demanded almost shouting.

"Helena agreed to help us out" Ryan replied cringing internally at the anticipated explosion though he managed to appear confident.

"What! How could you do this to me Ryan! She's not part of the drama club" Sharpay screeched.

Ryan tried to lead his sister over to the couches to give the others the opportunity to escape. He waved his hand behind Sharpay's back to let them know they should leave.

They moved in a group surrounding Helena and Zeke, feeling a little ridiculous but wanting to prevent another tantrum that would occur if the blonde girl saw her rival or that her boyfriend was with the group.

Sharpay noticed the group leaving but was too busy yelling at her brother to turn and look at who'd been there other than Troy and Gabriella.

"It's not about you Sharpay. I needed another dancer who could learn the choreography in ten days and nail the steps and the timing. Helena was the best choice to do that" Ryan stated.

"But she can't act. She doesn't belong in the show she's not part of the drama club" Sharpay argued.

"She's a great actress. The only reason she's never auditioned is because she didn't want to put up with your tantrums" Ryan said tiredly.

"What are you talking about? Everyone loves my performances" Sharpay stated dramatically.

"The audience loves your performance on the night. The constant running roughshod over everyone else and having to have the spotlight on you every minute makes you hard to share the stage with. Helena's not the only one that thinks so. You lost your role in the show for refusing to follow direction. I've always let you have your own way in the past and you got away with it because you were the only girl auditioning for the lead that was half decent but things change Shar. You need to take a long hard look at your behaviour. If you carry on like that at college you'll fail your classes" Ryan yelled finally pushed into losing his temper with his sister.

"What classes" Sharpay screamed. "I haven't a hope of getting into Juilliard without being in the show. You've ruined my life by whining to Darbus about your stupid little dances."

Ryan took a step back as his sister waved her arms erratically afraid he'd be hit. He shook his head. "No Sharpay I won't let you blame me for this, you had plenty of warning to behave like a professional actress instead of a spoilt princess and you chose not to."

Darby stopped just out of sight, shocked when her son stood up for himself and argued back at her daughter when she was in such a mood. She knew how much effort it took to stand up to Sharpay and she was proud of her son for doing so. She wondered if she should go and offer support or leave the twins to sort this out between themselves. In the end she didn't make a decision just hovered within hearing distance cursing her own indecision until they each stormed off in opposite directions, neither noticing her presence.

Ryan climbed on his scooter and thought about heading to Kelsi's but decided he wanted to be alone. He headed towards Lava Springs forty minutes away, intending to hole up in their room there or the rest of the day.

Troy rang Ryan after Gabriella's plane let to thank him for running interference with Sharpay so they could get away and to check that he was okay. He knew from experience that Sharpay never considered other people's feelings and she could say some pretty vicious things especially when she was upset. Ryan didn't answer but text back that he was fine and was spending the day out of town.

He had some term papers to finish and would see Troy at school on Monday.

Troy noticed that even though they were working harder than they ever had at rehearsals before the atmosphere seemed more relaxed. As they approached opening night the tension started to build a bit but the overall attitude of cooperation persisted and real friendships were starting to form between the cast and crew.

Until the past week the crew had tried to be as silent as possible hoping to avoid Sharpay's notice not wanting to be forced to make changes to the set to allow better access to the centre stage or to repaint items to enhance her colouring. Now when they had suggestions they knew they'd be listened to and some of their suggestions were actually very practical in terms of reducing the expense or making sets look more authentic. It was a little late to use some of these ideas and when Ms Darbus asked why they were bringing it up now they admitted that they had mentioned some of them earlier but Sharpay had refused to let anyone consider them, or that they had chosen not to speak up and attract attention due to her demands.

Estelle Darbus shook her head at this additional proof that letting Sharpay get away with her bad behaviour had been damaging the show in more ways than she had foreseen.

He and Ryan had finally become comfortable practicing their kiss in private towards the end of last week but Ms Darbus now insisted that their rehearsal occurred onstage. Even though most people were too busy rehearsing or finishing the sets to stop and watch it seemed to add a whole new level of awkwardness.

"You ready to do this?" Troy asked looking around at everyone.

"No but I don't think we have a choice" Ryan said quietly.

"Let's just get this over and done with" Troy said before taking his position and saying the first line.

Ryan responded with his line and they got through the scene unaware of their audience until they, prompted by Ms Darbus, burst out with applause and catcalls as the kiss ended.

"What the" Troy said spinning around to face everyone.

"I'm sorry boys but we have no idea how the audience will react on the night. I've asked the crew to help prepare you for several different possible reactions. Run it again and this time ignore the crowd's reaction except for remembering to delay your next line until the audience quietens down enough for it to be heard.

Troy sighed and returned to his starting position and they ran the scene again several times. Sometimes the other cast and crew cheered and catcalled, other times they remained silent or one person started shouting insults. By the end of the night Ryan and Troy had learned to shut out what was actually being said and continue with their lines as soon as it was quiet.

"How was rehearsal?" Gabriella asked as they talked late Monday night.

"Most of it was great. No drama queen throwing tantrums. Ryan and I have sorted all our lines and I've got the dances down" Troy replied not wanting to talk about his issues with kissing someone else with his wife. "How we're your classes today?"

"Honestly they were a bit of a grind. I can't believe how much work it is" Gabriella replied tiredly.

"Is everyone else finding it difficult too?" Troy asked.

"Sophia's really struggling in class because she's only doing about half the required reading. Casey's keeping up with the reading okay but looks really stressed in class. Alia seems to be cruising" Gabriella explained. "I spoke to Ryan earlier."

"What did he have to say?" Troy asked.

"Probably the same thing you'd say if you were willing to talk about it. That kissing you is incredibly awkward but you're managing to do it without hesitating too long and that the rest of the show is going well and he believes accepting the part was the right decision" Gabriella said bluntly.

"You're right, I agree with everything he said" Troy replied chuckling.

"So why couldn't you tell me that?" Gabriella asked.

"It just doesn't feel right talking to you about kissing someone else" Troy admitted blushing.

"You do know I'm going to see it don't you" Gabriella reminded him.

"I know" Troy said concerned. "I'm worried about that more than anything."

"Perhaps then you should have let me watch you practice last weekend so you could stop worrying about it" Gabriella suggested gently.

"I don't want you to have to see me kissing someone else at all let alone more than once" Troy protested.

"Troy if you can't cope with kissing someone onstage then you'll need to think about what you're going to major in" Gabriella said. "You might have to take it a whole lot further than that if you end up acting in movies."

"I want to be a stage actor" Troy said.

"I know that but you may have to compromise if you want to make a living as an actor" Gabriella said calmly.

Troy arrived home each night exhausted and very glad that he'd finished all his term papers before going to visit Gabriella at Stanford. He didn't know what he would do if he had to come home to several hours of homework after nearly eight hours of rehearsal on top of his regular classes.

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5, old voldys gone moldy, Infinite21 and notsotumblaanymore for your support.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical or any of its characters.

The representatives from Juilliard, Adele and Byron, were surprised not to see one of their candidates anywhere on the program. They mentioned it to the student who'd shown them to their seats and he smirked. "I'm probably not supposed to say anything. She got her part taken off her for refusing to do the songs the way they were written" he said.

Adele frowned "I see" she said "that's disappointing."

"We don't want students that won't take direction" Byron stated mentally crossing Sharpay Evans of the list of potential candidates.

"If that's true. She had some impressive credits on her resume" Adele said.

"We'll we can ask the drama teacher what really happened but the other three will have to be pretty unimpressive for us to consider a candidate we haven't seen"

Adele shook her head "no being the best in a very poor group doesn't mean she'll have what it takes to survive in a competitive environment like Juilliard. I think we'll have to remove Miss Evans from consideration unfortunately"

"We'll if the boy was correct she's done it herself. It's not like she is missing out on her chance because she's injured. I wonder who replaced her."

Estelle Darbus met them during intermission. "Welcome to East High" she said throwing her arms out dramatically.

"We're very glad to be here" Byron said. "But we were wondering if you could tell us what happened to Miss Sharpay Evans?"

The teacher looked stricken. "Oh no! I never considered that when I gave her part to someone else" she exclaimed.

"So it was done deliberately. Can you tell us why?" Adele asked.

"I don't want to harm her chances" Estelle protested.

"We cannot award a scholarship to an applicant we haven't seen" Byron said bluntly.

"So I've already destroyed her dreams of getting in to Juilliard. No wonder she's been so angry" the middle aged teacher looked really upset.

"You said you removed her from her role. You must have had good reason to do that" Adele reminded her.

Estelle Darbus sighed, "Miss Evans refused to take direction and she was bullying the composer the choreographer and the other actors to do things her way. They banded together and refused. I let her know that her behaviour would not be tolerated and gave her the weekend to decide if she was willing to change. She wasn't."

"Can you tell us who did end up taking the part?" Byron asked.

"And how recently it was reallocated? It's a lot of work for the replacement to learn a part at the last minute" Adele added.

"Twelve days ago. Unfortunately our official understudy Miss Tiara Gold broke her ankle two weeks ago. The original part was divided up. Mr Ryan Evans took over most of it, Mrs Gabriella Bolton took Miss Evans' place in the prom scene and Helena Wellington-Smythe one of our juniors took the 'Night-of-nights' solo and Miss Gold's place in the prom scenes. And yes it has been a lot of work for everyone." Estelle Darbus explained. "I'm incredibly proud of how hard all my cast have worked to pull this together."

"So were there many script changes required?" Adele asked.

"There were several minor changes in Mr Evan's and Mr Bolton's lines. Most of the rewriting work was to move the songs into the correct key for the new voices. Miss Neilson has worked extremely hard."

"And done an exemplary job" Byron agreed.

"If you'll excuse me I need to check on what's happening backstage" Estelle said before hurrying off.

The two judges were then approached by a pretty blond girl holding a DVD. "Are you the Juilliard representatives?" she asked confidently.

"Yes we are and you are?" Byron said.

"I'm Sharpay Evans" The blond said flashing a brilliant smile and holding out her hand.

"Miss Evans, we were surprised to find that you're not performing tonight" Adele said shaking her hand.

"Oh I know it was a catastrophe when my doctor said I couldn't continue with the show" Sharpay said hoping that nobody would tell them the truth. "I brought some recordings of my previous shows for you to see instead."

"Are these the same recordings you sent with your application?" Byron asked.

"Yes, have you already seen them?" Sharpay said surprised.

"We have" Adele confirmed. "Do you have any recordings of your more recent work?"

"Well no. There was an equipment failure you see and there were no recordings of the show last semester" Sharpay lied not wanting to admit that her part in the previous show that fall was very small as there was no singing or dancing.

"Thank you Miss Evans" Byron stated shaking her hand again. "We will be making our decision after the show tonight."

"Oh but..."

"You're teacher explained to us why you were no longer in the show" Adele stated. "Behaviour like that is not tolerated by the Juilliard School."

"It was a set up. Ryan's my brother and he'd do anything to beat me. Kelsi's his girlfriend who'd do anything for him and Troy and Gabriella are Kelsi's best friends" Sharpay protested.

"Your teacher Estelle Darbus didn't seem to be someone who'd be that easily fooled" Adele commented.

"We've heard similar comments from several other students" Byron added. "We do not appreciate being lied to Miss."

The Juilliard representatives turned and walked away returning to their seats as Sharpay ran out of the theatre in tears.

The scene ended with the kiss and instead of the expected applause the audience sat in stunned silence for a full minute before coach Bolton stood up and started clapping. He was quickly joined by his wife and a nervous looking Darby Evans. Soon most of the auditorium was applauding. Ryan noticed that one of the exceptions was his father who sat there with a stormy look on his face.

Ryan deliberately looked away from his father and moved off the stage to wait in the wings until he was due to go on for the final song.

"You did it" Gabriella said to them smiling.

Troy moved forward and swept her into a kiss. "We did" he confirmed.

They looked at Ryan and noticed that his smile seemed forced. "Are you okay?" Gabriella asked.

"Yeah" Ryan dismissed. "Did you see who was the first to stand up for the ovation?" he asked Troy.

"No I wasn't looking at the audience" Troy replied.

"It was your Dad" Ryan said sadly.

Troy wanted to smile at the public support from his father but was worried about his friend's reaction. He would have expected Ryan to be pleased for him. "What's wrong Ryan?" Troy asked.

"After your Dad stood up more than half the audience did too. My father didn't" Ryan said flatly.

"Did you tell him about playing the role?" Troy asked. "Dad's known I would have to kiss you since you took the part nearly two weeks ago. He was quite upset about it the night I told him."

Ryan thought for a moment "I told him about being given Sharpay's part in the musical but he was upset about Sharpay losing the role. Maybe he wasn't listening when I explained that I'd have to kiss you."

"Well if he didn't know in advance I'm not surprised he wasn't able to sort out his reaction in time to join in the standing ovation" Gabriella said encouragingly.

"Yeah" Ryan said doubtfully.

"Introduce him to Kelsi and Gabriella. Then he'll understand that it's just acting" Troy suggested.

"It'll be worth it if you get that scholarship" Gabriella reminded him.

"I won't get it" Ryan said dejectedly.

"I'm not interested in going to Juilliard. Sharpay's out of the running. I'll admit that Kelsi's compositions are fantastic but you're an actor, dancer, singer and choreographer. A quadruple threat. You definitely have a chance" Troy said supportively.

Byron and Adele were slightly shocked to see the kiss between the two boys. Though the play had obviously originally been about a romantic relationship between the two characters they had assumed that any physical affection between them would have been removed when the 'girl' part had been given to Ryan.

They were even more surprised after the show to see the two boys each circulating in the company of an apparent girlfriend.

They approached Ryan and Kelsi first recognising them both from their application photographs.

"Congratulations on a splendid job. The composition and choreography were extraordinary for a high school production" Byron exclaimed offering them each his hand.

"Thank you sir" Ryan replied not sure who the couple were.

"I'm Byron and this is Adele. We're the Juilliard representatives, do you have time to answer a few questions?"

"Of course, we could go backstage if you want to find somewhere a little quieter" Ryan suggested.

"Do you want to talk to Ryan on his own?" Kelsi asked.

"Yes please" Adele replied.

"We do want to talk to you as well later" Byron reassured her.

"That's fine I want to talk to Gabriella and then I'll be with my parents" Kelsi told her boyfriend kissing his cheek. "Good luck" she whispered.

Ryan led them to the couch backstage grabbing a folding chair for himself on the way. He stopped short seeing the couch occupied. Gabriella was sitting on Troy's lap cuddled up while they talked in low voices. She looked up and saw them just as Ryan was about to make a strategic retreat.

"Hi Ryan do you need us?" she asked blushing.

"No I was just looking for a quiet place to talk. These are the Juilliard representatives Adele and Byron. Adele, Byron, I'd like to introduce you to my best friends Troy and Gabriella Bolton."

"Pleased to meet you" Gabriella said jumping to her feet, embarrassed at being caught by someone important.

"Welcome to East High. I hope you enjoyed the show" Troy said shaking their hands.

"We'll be looking to talk to you later Mr Bolton" Adele said smiling.

"If it's about accepting a place at Juilliard next year then I'm afraid you're wasting your time talking to me. I've already signed to go to Berkeley"

"Why on earth when you knew you had a chance at a Juilliard Scholarship?" Byron asked.

"Well I didn't actually apply to Juilliard. MsD sent in an application for me. And I want to be as close to Gabriella at Stanford as possible" Troy explained.

"Will you at least still major in theatre?" Adele asked.

"Yeah I plan to" Troy confirmed.

"But Ryan and Kelsi would both be great students for Juilliard they're both really talented" Gabriella put in making her friend blush. "I'll let you talk to Ryan."

"We should go mingle and thank Dad for his support during the show" Troy said.

"Thank him from me too. I was really panicking there for a minute" Ryan said.

"We were impressed with you performance tonight. Your solo was particularly inventive" Adele said complimentarily. "Tell us about the work behind tonight's show."

"You choreographed the entire show yourself?" Byron asked.

"Yes" Ryan agreed.

"It can't have been easy. A lot of those kids are not dancers" Adele commented.

"No but they all worked really hard to learn their dances. The hardest part was the last minute cast changes" Ryan answered.

"Your teacher took a real risk with that" Byron said. "As you were one of the people most effected do you think it was warranted?"

"It was a lot of extra work but unfortunately yes it was" Ryan replied sighing. "I don't want to say anything that would hurt my sister's chances" he added anxiously.

"Don't worry about that she is out of consideration. Nothing you could say will change that" Adele reassured him.

"Because she wasn't in the show? That still makes it partly my fault" Ryan said wryly.

"She got an audition in the first place because of you, Miss Neilson and Mr Bolton. Juilliard wouldn't have sent a representative just for Sharpay Evans" Byron said bluntly.

Ryan smiled "really?" He asked. "That's not what she thought."

"Tell me about the cast changes" Adele asked to get the conversation back on track.

"We'll Gabriella originally had the part I played. Then she got into early orientation at Stanford so the part was given to Sharpay and Tiara took her old part. That wasn't a problem for me because Sharpay's a better dancer than Gabriella and Tiara's decent too. Then Tiara broke her ankle and Sharpay refused to dance the choreography as it was written. She kept changing the steps which made it really hard for Troy because he really isn't a dancer though he does his best, so MsD took the part away from her. "Helena took Tiara's role and I took on the female lead. It was too late for anyone else to learn all the songs and dances and I'd been helping Troy learn the dances and we were able to dance well together"

"What was Helena's original role?" Byron asked.

"She didn't have one. She refused to have anything to do with the musicale if Sharpay was in it. They don't get along" Ryan explained.

"Can I ask why Sharpay didn't originally get the role if she's the better dancer?" Adele asked.

"Troy and Gabriella have a chemistry together that lights up the stage and Gabriella has a better singing voice" Ryan replied.

"What was it like kissing a boy on stage?" Adele asked. "I'm surprised the two of you agreed to it."

Ryan laughed "it was awkward at first Troy clasps my face so he won't miss then closes his eyes and thinks of Gabriella. He's been asking for that kiss to be removed from the script since Gabriella gave up the role. He didn't want to kiss anyone except his wife. When we first talked about me doing the role he said it really didn't matter who else it was"

"You weren't worried about being bullied?" Adele asked.

"I was a bit but Troy and his friends have made sure I'm not alone" Ryan said smiling.

"Troy's friends?" Byron asked confused.

"Troy's captain of the championship basketball team. He can do no wrong at East High" Ryan said laughing. "I hate to say it but he's the reason the drama club is so popular."

"I must say your dances tonight surprised me a little. Your audition tape was so much more serious" Byron said.

"Yeah well that style wouldn't work with these guys. And it was easy to come up with great dances when you're working with such amazing music"

"You and Miss Neilson make quite a team" Adele agreed. "Could you send her in to talk to us?"

"Sure" Ryan agreed getting to his feet. "It was great to meet you" he said shaking hands with them.

"You're up" Ryan said coming up behind Kelsi and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"How did it go?" Kelsi asked turning into his embrace.

"It was good"

"Did they ask you about Sharpay?" Kelsi asked knowing he'd been worried about what to tell them about his sister.

"MsD had already told them. Feel free to say whatever you want about her. They've already decided against her" Ryan replied.

"Thanks" Kelsi replied glad that she was free to express her opinions without worrying about the effect of her words. She walked quickly backstage and found them not on the couch but standing near the practice room piano.

"Hello" she said quietly.

"Hi Kelsi we're just trying out the piano. Is this where you do most of your composing?" Byron asked trying to set her at ease.

"Most of the show was composed here" she agreed smiling. "But I compose at home too. I like this piano though it has a nice sound."

"Could you play us something you're working on" Adele asked.

"You're joking right. I've spent every minute lately on the show. You've just heard everything decent I've composed in the last couple of months" Kelsi exclaimed laughing nervously.

"How about you play us your favourite song" Byron suggested.

"I think you've heard it on my application tape" Kelsi said. "I wrote this for Troy and Gabriella over the summer."

She sat and began playing 'You are the music in me'.

Byron and Adele both sat smiling slightly as she played.

"It sounds better with the words" Kelsi said as she finished.

"I'm sure it does but it was lovely by itself as we'll. Do you think Troy and Gabriella would come and sing for us so we can hear it the way you intended it to sound?"

"If they're still here" Kelsi agreed. "Would you like me to ask them?"

"I'll go" Adele suggested.

"Do you know any Beethoven?" Byron asked.

"Not well enough to play without music" Kelsi replied going across to the music shelves to find it.

Troy and Gabriella entered as quietly as they could while she was playing. "That was beautiful Kels. You wanted our help?" Troy asked after she was done.

"Yeah. Can you sing 'Everyday' or 'You are the music in me'?"

"Okay but it's been a while do you have the words?" Troy agreed.

Adele sighed as they finished. She now understood exactly why Gabriella had originally been chosen for the part."

"The two of you could have a real future singing romantic duets" she commented.

"Gabriella wants to be a doctor" Troy said smiling.

"We'll we wish you well. To ease your mind Troy we wouldn't have offered you the scholarship" Byron said.

"In most other schools you'd have got it to be honest. I believe you could have a fine career as an actor" Adele added.

"I understand. Kelsi and Ryan are both amazing. I could have been replaced in the show but they put the whole show together" Troy said smiling.

"Thanks for letting him know that" Gabriella said.

"Yeah it'll help when I'm getting up at five for training" Troy added.

Adele laughed. "Glad to be of service Troy" she said.

"I think we're ready to make a decision" Byron said shaking hands all around. "Thank you for playing for us Kelsi your compositions are beautiful."

A/N: Thank you to Pumpkinking5 for your support.


End file.
